Return of a Friend
by Lauriverfanboy1
Summary: Oliver traveled to Lian Yu to save his team and his son, but what if he found someone else there to? Someone he believed to be dead. How might things have ended differently on the island? This is how I think Lian Yu should've been and how I think Season 6 of Arrow would be if it had acted this way. Hope you like it. I suck at summaries.
1. Chapter 1

"Where the hell are you taking us?" Quentin asked Chase as the son of bitch led a shackled Quentin, Thea, John and Felicity through some monastery on Lian Yu.

"You should be thanking me, since it's due to my efforts that you're all being reunited with an old friend." Chase said simply as he and Black Siren pulled their chains.

"Who?" Thea asked as they entered a wide open room and couldn't believe their eyes.

Standing in the center of the room, wearing a black version of Oliver's Green Arrow suit, minus the weapons and mask and with the hood down, chained to the hook on the center of room and wearing high tech handcuffs behind the shackles, was Laurel Lance, alive and well.

"Uh, am I the only one who's seeing double?" Felicity asked.

"Nope, I see her to." Quentin said.

"Me to." John said.

"Me three." Thea said.

"What hell is going on here?" Quentin asked.

"Actually I was hoping you could tell me dad." the chained up Laurel said.

"What universe is this Laurel from and how does she recognize us?" Quentin asked as Chase chained them up with Laurel.

"I think I'll leave you all to get reacquainted." Chase said as he and his underlings left.

"Laurel, is that really you?" Thea asked.

"It's me Speedy." Laurel said.

"Prove it, after all, we've heard this before." Felicity said, trying to find a way that this isn't true.

"Okay and how do you suggest I do that?" Laurel asked, annoyed.

"Tell each of us something that only the real Laurel would know about us." John suggested and Laurel nodded.

"Ok, I'll go first. Laurel, what did I say to you when you and Ollie came to me with working at CNRI rather than jail time after I was arrested for vertigo use?" Thea asked.

"You said that you didn't want to be my office monkey." Laurel said a smile as a look of joy and relief appeared on Thea's face.

"Who's next?" Laurel asked.

"I'll go, what did you say to me when I wasn't sure how to feel about my brother still being alive and a member of Hive? What did you say to me?" John asked.

"I asked if you wanted to talk about it since resurrected siblings were kind of in my wheelhouse, reminded you about how Sara was also a member of an organization of killers and told you that when Andy died, it felt like a piece of yourself died to and that it was a chance to get that part of yourself back." Laurel said Diggle looked as though a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Alright, well Felicity, we don't really have any moments between us, but dad, take your best shot." Laurel said, looking at her father, who looked like he was about to cry, but he managed to stutter out his question.

"That night you found you me at the graveyard after you told me about Sara's actual death, what did I say to you when I told about how betrayed I was by what you did?" Quentin asked.

Laurel remembered that painful night before saying "You said that you and I, we had something more, 'cause we were the ones that were alike. And we had a trust and we had a bond, And you broke it. And I don't know how you could do that to us."

Quentin had tears of joy in his eyes now that he really did have his baby girl back.

"How is this possible?" Quentin asked.

"I don't know exactly. I mean, Chase told me how he did it in a dumbed down version so I could understand it, but basically what he said was that he discovered last year due an accident with that involved getting Barry's speed back and before you say anything, Black Siren already told Chase everything she knows about Team Flash, including their identities, it turns out that the same dark matter energy that gave Barry his powers can also reactivate portions of the brain of a deceased person and Chase hit my body with about 10 times the amount of dark matter that used to restore the Flash's speed, though where did this I don't know, but whatever the case, it was enough to reactivate my entire brain and all of my vital organs and it even gave me powers." Laurel said.

"Wait, you have powers now, what are they?" John asked, wondering if she had any they could use to escape.

"My powers are an almost instantaneous healing ability, sonic scream and super strength, but don't bother trying to think of an escape plan with any of those. These cuffs are designed to neutralize my strength and that sonic dampener on the column over there prevent me from using my powers." Laurel said.

"Well that's just great, but ways, I believe John interrupted you while you were telling your story." Quentin said.

"Right so after I was brought back to my life and my powers had restored my body, my mind was still a complete blank, aside from a few incredibly strong memories that I am not going to share, but aside from that I had no idea who I was, how I got where I was or anything about my past. So, after that, Chase asked his mentor Talia al Ghul to help me regain my memories using mental training techniques and she also taught me everything she taught Oliver and Adrian, which is how I got this suit and the name sahm 'asud." Laurel said.

"What does that mean?" Felicity asked curiously.

"It means Black Arrow and considering that I have the same training and a black version of the Green Arrow suit, I think it seems appropriate." Laurel said.

"How did you get here?" Quentin asked.

"Well, I regained all my memories around Christmas and Chase tried to guilt me into working for him and betraying you guys, but he underestimated my devotion to Oliver and the team, because I refused and tried to escape to warn you, but Talia took me out and imprisoned me here 6 months ago." Laurel said.

"So that's why you haven't reached out before now." John said.

"Correct." Laurel said.

"Well now that we've gotten that settled, we need to figure out how to get out of here." Thea said.

"Oliver will find us." John said.

"How do you know he even knows where we are?" Quentin asked.

"I have faith in him." Thea said.


	2. Chapter 2

"You know Oliver, the night before the Undertaking, some of my associates, especially those who were on the wrong end of your bow, thought that the hood had computer skills." Malcolm told Oliver as they stood in the bunker, trying to find the team.

"I had good hardware and a specific purpose. Chase turned off the transponder on the plane. Luckily, Felicity has access to a keyhole satellite that can track the heat signature of any aircraft in the world." Oliver said impatiently.

"Oliver, I swear you are too dependent on that IT girl to do all this stuff for you." Malcolm said.

"Can we not have discussion now?" Oliver asked as the computer beeped signaling that the elevator had just arrived at the bunker.

"Are you expecting someone?" Malcolm asked.

"Yes, I am, because Chase is working with at least Black Siren, Evelyn Sharp, Talia al Ghul, and whatever army she's currently controlling." Oliver said.

"So you called in reinforcements. If I wasn't such a confident individual, my ego might be bruised." Malcolm said.

"Malcolm, your ego is what I'm gonna need you to keep in check." Oliver said.

"Why? Who did you reach out to?" Malcolm asked, narrowing his eyes as the elevator opened and 2 people walked out.

As she stepped out of the elevator, Nyssa al Ghul said "Husband, Mr. Merlyn, I assume you still have no title."

"No." Malcolm said.

"Malcolm." Oliver said.

"I will not work with her." Malcolm said.

"I told you." Nyssa said.

"I'd sooner slice her throat." Malcolm said.

"Try to, you mean." Nyssa corrected.

"Malcolm, you said you were willing to do whatever it takes to get Thea back. So here we are!" Oliver retorted angrily, not willing to put up with Malcolm's pettiness.

"Fine. But does she know?" Malcolm asked.

"Know what, Mr. Merlyn?" Nyssa asked.

"One of the people we are up against is your sister." Malcolm said, causing Nyssa to look at Oliver.

"Nyssa, I wanted to explain it to you in person." Oliver explained.

"Yeesh, you have a sister. And I thought one daughter of Ra's al Ghul was too many for the world. No offense." Roy Harper said as he entered the bunker as well.

"None taken Mr. Harper." Nyssa said.

"You called in a dead man to help us?" Malcolm asked.

"I needed to have one dead guy on this team that I trust. Now come on, we have Chase's C-130. It looks like he flew out over the coast, banked southerly 12 degrees, which- which means." Oliver said.

"What does it mean?" Malcolm asked.

"I know where he's taking them." Oliver said.

* * *

Oliver and Roy were sitting in the cockpit of a plane which Oliver was flying and Roy was his copilot, both of them wearing their suits.

"You know, despite the circumstances, it's good to see you again." Oliver said to Roy.

"You to. How's Thea been? I mean aside from being kidnapped?" Roy asked.

"She's been better though I think she'll be relieved to see you." Oliver said as the radar indicated that they had arrived at their destination.

"We're here." Oliver said as Nyssa and Malcolm joined them.

"Why would your adversary bring them here?" Nyssa asked.

"For that matter, how did he even know about this place?" Malcolm asked.

"Talia, she researched me. Probably told Chase everything." Oliver explained.

"Ironic. When I was a little girl, my father told me to visit this place. It's where I found Sara." Nyssa said.

"So that's how she wound up with the league. I've always been curious about that." Oliver said.

"Now is not the time, Chase has to realize that he's picked his battleground poorly, since this island was your stomping ground for 5 years. No one knows it better than you. Not even Sara." Malcolm said.

"Actually, that's not true. There is one person who knows Lian Yu as well as I do. And you're not going to like who it is." Oliver said.

"Who?" Roy asked.

"The same man who trained me to become a killer and taught me a lot of what I know about the island. And he's currently in an ARGUS holding cell on the island." Oliver said.

* * *

After leaving Roy, Malcolm and Nyssa to unload the equipment from the plane, Oliver was paying an old friend a visit.

As he entered the prison, he was surprised to see Slade Wilson sitting against the wall, the looking the most sane he had since before the Mirakuru.

"I need your help." Oliver said to Slade.

Slade chuckle slightly as he said "Hey kid, I'm glad you came back."

"What brought you back to the island?" Slade asked.

"Like I said I need your help." Oliver said as an ARGUS guard walked in.

"What the hell's going on here?" the guard asked.

"We have a problem, and I need you to get off the island." Oliver said.

"I'm not going anywhere and neither is he." the guard protested.

"I'm taking him, and I'm taking Digger Harkness. There's an Argus supply boat that is docked on the eastern shore. You take it, and you go." Oliver told him.

"I'm not abandoning my post." The guard said.

"Suit yourself." Oliver said as he knocked the guard out.

"Unh!" the guard as he went down.

"Would you like to explain what's going on?" Slade asked Oliver.

"I'd like to talk about you for a minute. You seem -." Oliver began, not quite sure how to end that sentence.

"What, in possession of all my marbles? The Mirakuru wore off a long time ago, kid. I mean, I remember everything that happened. I'm not trying to escape that, but it feels like some bad dream. Now, regardless of my sanity, why do you want to help me after everything I've done?" Slade asked..

There is a man here on the island named Adrian Chase. He's holding my friends and my family hostage, including Thea And my son." Oliver said.

"Since when do you have a son?" Slade asked.

"Slade, are you gonna help me or not?" Oliver asked, in no mood for toying around.

"I think I'm stating the obvious when I say I killed your mother, and for that alone, you should have killed me." Slade pointed out.

"Maybe what's happening now is the reason I didn't. This is all the Intel that I've been able to gather on your son Joe, including his present whereabouts." Oliver said, offering him a thumb drive.

"Are you offering to help me find my son?" Slade asked.

"I want us to find both of our sons." Oliver said as he pulled something out of the bag he'd brought with him and presented it to Slade to reveal that it was his Deathstroke mask.

"You and me, kid, like old times." Slade said.


	3. Chapter 3

"You know, if we're going to fight side by side, you're going to have to at least speak with me." Nyssa pointed out to Malcolm.

"I know. It's awful." Malcolm said pettily.

"Pity. By now, I thought you'd realize that by disbanding the League of Assassins, I freed us both." Nyssa pointed out.

"Are you looking for applause? Clapping is a little more difficult for me these days." Malcolm said, holding up his cybernetic hand.

"Enough you two. We'll have enough enemies on this island without fighting each other." Roy said as Oliver arrived with Digger Harkness and a fully suited up Deathstroke.

"Have you offloaded all the supplies?" Oliver asked.

"Most of it. Guns and ammo are still on the plane. By the way, what exactly do you need an RPG for?" Malcolm asked.

"Chase has Talia, an army of her students, Evelyn Sharp and a metahuman, I have no interest in this being a fair fight." Oliver said.

"Is that why you've released these animals from their cages." Nyssa asked.

"Oh, come on, luv. That is no way to start a new friendship." Harkness said.

"Look at me like that again and I will feed you your own eyes." Nyssa said.

"You're not her type anyway." Malcolm said.

"Alright that's enough, let's offload the rest of the gear." Oliver said as a rocket came soaring through the sky and destroyed the plane they came on.

"There goes our ride home kid." Slade said.

"Not quite. Roy, along the eastern shore is an Argus supply ship. Get there and make sure it's secure. That's our new escape route." Oliver said.

"Oliver, should we really be splitting up now?" Roy asked.

"Maybe not, but Roy, you and Nyssa are the only people on this team I trust completely and I need Nyssa to deal with her sister, so I need you to secure our exit." Oliver said.

"Copy that." Roy said as he grabbed his bow and headed off.

"And now for the rest of us, let's get moving. I don't like being out in the open anymore than I have to be." Oliver said.

* * *

After separating from Malcolm and Nyssa, who left to investigate the RPG site, Oliver, Slade and Harkness continued venturing forward towards the location where the video of Oliver's son had originated.

" Why does he get a weapon and I don't?" Harkness asked.

"I trust him more than you." Oliver said.

"Didn't he kill your mother?" Harkness pointed out.

"Which shows just how much I trust you. Now listen to me very carefully. You help me take down Chase, you walk. You screw with me even a little bit, and I will put you right back into that hole." Oliver threatened.

"Just a gun is all I'm saying." Harkness said.

"Kid, I see movement." Slade said, pointing out several members of OLiver

"Stay sharp." Oliver said as he led them towards the team.

"Oliver." Curtis said.

"Shh. Keep your voices down." Oliver said.

"What is he doing here?" Curtis asked, referring to Slade.

"Where's William?" Oliver asked Samantha, who was also trapped in a cage.

"I don't know, we were separated, Oliver what the hell is going on here?" Samantha asked.

"Strange that they're unguarded." Slade said.

"Seems pretty obvious to me mate. It's a trap." Harkness said the trees rustled and Talia al Ghul and Evelyn Sharpe dropped out of the trees and raised weapons, Evelyn's being a gun and Talia's being her bow.

"Don't even think it Oliver or your son loses his mother." Talia said.

"Oh, and don't worry about that gun, mate. Mr. Chase gave me this nice new one. Along with a better offer." Harkness said.

"Adrian said it would be pointless to reach out to you." Evelyn said to Slade.

"Although given this turn of events, perhaps you've changed your mind?" Talia asked.

"What's it gonna be, Slade? Care to side with the winners? What's it gonna be, mate?" Harkness asked.

" Put a gun to his head. Sorry, kid, but there's no giving up to these guys." Slade said as Evelyn preceded to do just that.

"I assumed you'd want to be on the winning side." Harkness said.

"Assumption is the mother of all failures!" Slade said as he pulled a double cross and punched Harkness out while Oliver flipped Evelyn over his shoulder and threw a flechette just in time to knock Talia's arrow off course.

* * *

After a brief scuffle that ended with Nyssa and Malcolm showing up and Talia escaping with Harkness, though Evelyn behind, who wound up in one of the cages after the rest of the team were set free.

"Where are the others?" Oliver asked.

"We don't know, we were separated." Curtis said.

"There's an Argus supply ship on docked on the eastern shores, which is our ticket out of here. Get there and make sure that Chase does not take that boat." Oliver said.

"And how exactly do you expect us to find the boat?" Dinah asked.

"With this." Oliver said, tossing Curtis a T-Sphere.

"Well, this will come in handy." Curtis said.

"Yep, thought it'd be a good idea to come prepared. It's programmed with the ship's location and will lead you there." Oliver said.

"We should get moving. It'll be harder for me to track Talia as it gets darker." Nyssa suggested.

"Agreed. Malcolm, can you sail a boat?" Oliver asked.

"If it's anything like the 3 winning yachts I used to have then yes." Malcolm said.

"Take the others to the ship and make sure it's ready to sail as soon as everyone is on board." Oliver said.

Malcolm just nodded as he led the rest of the team off through the woods.

"Tell me where the rest of the hostages are." Oliver said.

"I wish I knew so that I could tell you to go screw off." Evelyn said.

"As for you, against my better instincts, when this all over, I'm coming back for you." Oliver said to Evelyn.

"How do you know that leaving me here wasn't a part of the plan?" Evelyn asked.

"Trust me, I'm sure it was. Because to Chase you are no more valuable to him than a pawn is in a game of chess." Oliver said.

"I've picked up Talia's trail. She and Harkness fled into the forest, but I can track them." Nyssa said.

"They might lead us back to the rest of the hostages." Slade said.

"Let's go." Oliver said.


	4. Chapter 4

"The trail's gone cold." Nyssa said as she stopped in the middle of the forest.

"Are you sure?" Oliver asked.

"No doubt my sister knew we would follow. Let me go on ahead, see if I can recover the trail.  
Nyssa said.

"Ok." Oliver agreed and Nyssa ventured on ahead.

"So instead of marrying the blonde, you marry Ra's al Ghul's daughter?" Slade asked, trying to make small talk.

"Nyssa talks too much." Oliver said.

"She hasn't explained your beef with Chase." Slade pointed out.

"My past is coming back to haunt me." Oliver explained.

"Seems to be a recurring theme with you, kid." Slade observed.

"Don't know why." Oliver.

"Well, it's not really that complicated. You suffer from survivor's guilt. You can't get over the death of your father." Slade said.

"Adrian Chase has nothing to do with my father." Oliver argued.

"Kid, when it comes to you, everything has to do with your father. You and I are not dissimilar. We're both haunted by our pasts, and the only way to bury that ghost is by forgiving yourself." Slade said.

"Forgiving myself for what?" Oliver asked.

"You blame yourself for your father's suicide and everything else that has gone wrong since. You need to forgive yourself for your sins." Slade said.

"You say that like it's easy." Oliver said, thinking of his guilt, not just for his father's death, but for the deaths of Yao Fei, Shado, Akio, Taiana, Tommy, his mother, Sara and the most devastating of all, Laurel.

"It's the hardest thing in this world." Slade said.

"If the two of you are done relaxing, I've picked up the trail." Nyssa said.

* * *

After infiltrating the monastery that they believed the rest of the hostages were being held at, Oliver told Nyssa to scout ahead, though she was reluctant to do so.

"She doesn't trust me." Slade said.

"Well considering how many times you tried to kill her beloved, can you really blame her?" Oliver asked.

"No." Slade said as he punched Oliver's lights out as Black Siren and some of Talia's students approached them.

"Tell Mr. Chase I brought him a gift." Slade said to Black Siren, who just grinned at the sight of an unconscious Oliver Queen.

* * *

When the team watched Black Siren enter the chamber, Laurel felt her heart lift while her spirits fell as she saw Oliver in chains being led in.

"Oliver." Laurel asked, getting his attention.

"Don't blame me for this one. Mr. Wilson here deserves all the credit." Black Siren said as Slade entered the room.

"Slade, you son of a bitch." John said.

"I never should've trusted you." Oliver said.

"Look at it this way kid. Now you've finally been reunited with your family." Slade said.

"I think Slade hit me a bit too hard since I swear I'm seeing 2 Laurels in this room, one of them in chains." Oliver said.

"It's really her Oliver. Chase actually did find a way to bring our Laurel back. We'll explain later." Quentin said as their captors left.

"Laurel, is that really you?" Oliver asked.

"After you came back to Starling city after the Undertaking, we talked at the cemetery and decided that even though we still needed each other in our lives, we couldn't be together that way after what happened with Tommy." Laurel said and she could see a burden of guilt fall away from Oliver's shoulders.

"I thought the lazarus pit was destroyed. How is this possible?" Oliver asked.

"Apparently Chase found another way to bring her back, oddly enough through science rather than magic and it appears that team Flash is going to have some explaining to do when we get out of this, though now Laurel has meta powers." John said.

"Okay, I'll question that further later, but for right now, where's my son?" Oliver asked.

"Wait, Chase got William to?" Thea asked.

"Yeah, he captured Samantha and showed me a video of William being held hostage. He is on this island somewhere and we need to find him." Oliver said.

"That son of a bitch. Holding a grudge is one thing, but bringing an innocent kid into it is going too far." Quentin said.

"We'll get him back Ollie." Laurel said.

"Laurel, what are your powers?" Oliver asked.

"Super strength, sonic cry and regenerative healing and both my strength and try have been neutralized." Laurel said.

"Not for much longer. Curtis originally whipped this up for Dinah to help her control the sound, but more importantly, it'll bypass the sonic dampener." Oliver said, pulling out the device and tossing it to her.

"I love that nerd." Laurel said as she put the device around her neck like her old sonic device.

"This may hurt a little." Laurel warned.

"Just sing Black Canary." Thea said.

"It's Black Arrow now, but, here it goes." Laurel said as she let loose her Canary cry, which shattered both the chains and her power dampening cuffs.

"We need to get my gear and get out of here." Oliver said.

"You're not the only one with gear here. Talia trained me the same as you as a means to recover my memories." Laurel said.

"Even better." Oliver said as they headed out.

* * *

"Wait, so Slade was only pretending to screw you?" John asked as they saw Nyssa and Slade taking down Talia and her students.

"It was the fastest way to find where you guys you were being held." Oliver said.

"Laurel, how?" Nyssa asked, both surprised and elated to see her old friend again.

"Long story and I'll explain later, right now we need to move." Laurel said.

"She's right, we need to find Chase. We find him, we find my son." Oliver said.

"I'm not so sure about that Ollie." Thea said as Chase entered the room and Black Siren and the rest of his army joined him.

"Hello Oliver. Welcome back to Purgatory." Chase said with a sick smile on his face.


	5. Chapter 5

"Where's my son?" Oliver asked Chase.

"William, nice name, sort of a sweet kid actually, you sure he's yours?" Adrian asked.

"ADRIAN, WHERE IS MY SON?!" Oliver shouted.

"I'm loving this, even after all this time, you're still 10 steps behind me." Adrian said with a sick grin.

"I'M NOT GOING TO ASK YOU AGAIN! WHERE IS MY SON?!" Oliver shouted at him.

"If you want your son back Oliver, you know what you need to do." Adrian said.

"I know what you want me to do And I won't do it. I'm not gonna kill matter what you do, that is never going to happen." Oliver said.

"Never say never." Chase said as a fight broke out.

Oliver was taking on Adrian while Thea, John, Quentin, Slade and Nyssa dealt with Talia's students and Laurel took on her evil self.

"It's cute that actually thought that you could replace me. And not just on Team Arrow." Laurel said as she approached her doppelganger.

"Please, don't do it." Black Siren begged.

"Oh trust me, I'm not going to kill you. That would be too easy." Laurel said as she grabbed a hunk of wood and knocked her evil self out.

"You didn't need to do that." Felicity said weakly from where she was hiding, causing Laurel to glare at her.

"Yes I did. For so many reasons." Laurel said as she went to rejoin the fight, only to find that it was now down to Oliver and Adrian and Oliver was letting all hell break loose on Prometheus.

"There's the killer that I know and love." Chase said as Oliver put a real beating down on him.

"Tell me where my son is." Oliver demanded as he threw Chase over the banister before leaping over it himself.

"Do it. I know you want to. I can see it in your eyes. It's all over but only if you do it. Do it, Oliver, and show everyone, show yourself who you really are." Chase said.

"No! That's who I was. That's who I was before! It's not who I am now. You can blame me for your father's death for the rest of your life. I am done blaming myself for mine." Oliver said firmly and Slade couldn't help but smile as he could see that Oliver was finally done letting his past come back to haunt him.

"I knew it would come to this. Your son is dead, Oliver." Chase said, hoping that rage will get the outcome he wants.

"I don't believe you because you're a liar. You're lying to me to manipulate me into doing what you want, but, Adrian, here's the thing. If you are telling the truth, ff you killed my son, I am never going to be the person you want me to be. Not ever." Oliver said as his comm went live.

"Oliver, come in." Curtis's voice said.

"What is it Curtis?" Oliver asked.

"You can't kill Chase. He's rigged the entire island with explosives. They're remotely linked to some sort of dead man's switch. If he dies, it detonates all the devices. He wants you to kill him so it kills all of us." Curtis said.

Oliver looked back at Chase, who utilized a smoke bomb to escape.

"Oliver! Oliver, are you ok?" John asked.

"It's ok. I'm fine. Chase rigged the whole island with explosives. Slade, you need to lead them to the eastern shores to the Argus supply ship. The ship should already be running, so get there and tell that as soon as all of you are aboard to get the hell out of here." Oliver said.

"What about you?" John asked.

"I'm going after my son." Oliver said.

"What if Chase is telling the truth?" Felicity asked carelessly, causing Oliver to glare at her.

"I don't believe him. I can't believe him, but either way, Adrian Chase is not getting off this island." Oliver asked.

"Well if you think I'm going to let you go after him alone, you're even crazier than I thought." Laurel said.

"Laurel, we just got you back and I don't want to risk losing you again." Oliver said.

"And I'm not giving up a chance to finally get even with that son of a bitch who held me hostage for the past 6 months. Besides, you'll need backup and we both have the same training and the same gear as Chase." Laurel said.

"Fine, Laurel's with me, but everyone else get to the boat, now." Oliver said.

"Why do I get the feeling he meant that in more ways than one?" Quentin asked.

"Because Oliver and Laurel have been in love with each other since they knew what love is." Thea said as they all moved out.


	6. Chapter 6

Oliver and Laurel were standing in front of a beaten and bloodied Chase with Oliver receiving confirmation from John that they'd all made it off the island.

"Even if they made it off, they'll never get clear of the explosion in time, besides." Chase said as he yanked William out from below deck.

"Oh." Oliver said as he and Laurel both notched arrows and aimed.

"Don't do that. Even if you had a shot, you've already told me that you wouldn't kill me, or have circumstances finally changed? If I die, everyone you care about dies except your son and Laurel, but if you don't kill me, I kill him." Chase said smugly as he held William, who had his eyes shut tight, in a choke hold.

"You son of a bitch." Laurel said as she lowered her bow.

"William Or everyone else. You choose. Right now. Either way, it proves me right, huh? Either way, it's exactly like I told you. Everyone around you, everything you touch dies." Chase said.

Laurel could tell that Oliver was torn and that every second he wasted was another second that William could die.

She was about to intervene when she saw Oliver lower his bow slightly.

Then, pulling a move that not even Prometheus could predict, Oliver released the arrow into Chase's foot, causing him to stumble back and Oliver brought William into his arms.

"William, come here, come here! Hey! Are you ok? Are you alright? Are you alright? Did he hurt you? You all right? Ok." Oliver said.

"He's going to be fine." Adrian said, only find himself at the tip of one of Laurel's arrows.

"Don't you talk to him. Don't even look at him." Oliver shouted.

"I swear to god. You so much as glance at him and I will put an arrow through your skull." Laurel said as she held him at arrowpoint.

"You won. Your son has his father back, and he learned exactly who his father was just like you learned who your father was right here On these very same waters." Chase said.

"What are you talking about?" Laurel asked.

"William's younger than you were, so he's gonna be fine, you know And you have each other. Which is good. Oliver, that's good because it's gonna be lonely without mom and Thea." Chase said as ehe put a gun to his head.

"No, Adrian!" Oliver shouted as Adrian took the shot and killed himself.

Oliver and Laurel both looked back to watch Lian Yu explode behind them.

"No." Laurel screamed as she dropped her weapons.

But Oliver refused to believe that their friends, their family were dead.

"John come in. John do you hear me? Thea, Quentin, Curtis, Felicity, Roy, Dinah, Rene, Nyssa, Slade, Malcolm even. Does anybody copy?" Oliver asked desperately into the comms.

For a few terrifying minutes, there was no response over the comms, only static, until Oliver felt relief course through him as he heard John's voice over the comms.

"We're here Oliver. We all made it." John said.

"Oliver, what is it?" Laurel asked.

"John said they all made it off the island. They're going to be fine." Oliver said and Laurel nearly cried in relief.

"John, tell Felicity to triangulate our position through the comms and then come pick us up." Oliver said.

"Copy that." John said as the transmission ended.

Oliver looked down at his son, who was currently sitting on the deck, staring at Chase's body, a look of horror spread across his face.

"William, you're okay. We're going to get you back to your mom." Oliver assured him, but William just sat there, frozen.

Oliver looked worried until Laurel put her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, he's just in shock and given everything he's been through, it's not surprising." Laurel said.

"Yeah, he's not the going to be the only one in shock once word gets out that you're alive." Oliver said.

"Don't remind me." Laurel said as they heard a foghorn and saw the Argus ship approaching.

* * *

After Oliver, Laurel and William were all on board, it became a bit of a hugfest, Samantha hugging William, Quentin hugging Laurel and Thea hugging Oliver.

"I'm okay Speedy. This isn't the first time I've escaped from that island alive by the skin of my teeth." Oliver said as he clapped her shoulder.

"I know but still, Ollie, you're the only family I have left due to those 2 murderers over there." Thea said, nodding towards Slade and Malcolm.

"Thea, desperate times called for desperate measures. I couldn't stop Chase alone, so I built a new team, though I thought you'd be happy that Roy was a part of it." Oliver said.

"Well, you're not wrong about that." Thea said as she smiled at her ex-boyfriend.

"You know, when we get back, I'm thinking about talking to Lyla about establishing a cover for Laurel, I could always to her about one for Roy to." Oliver said, even though he already planned to do that.

"We both know that you would be doing that regardless of whether or not Laurel was back, but thank you." Thea said to her brother.

"You're welcome. I thought that if anyone could help you through this identity crisis you're going through right now, it'd be someone who's not only been there, but is also the only person who could truly give you your happily ever after." Oliver said.

"Speaking of happily ever afters, I believe that you have a decision to make between 2 women." Thea said.

"No I don't because I made that decision when I first entered that room in the monastery." Oliver said.

"Well, who did you pick?" Thea asked.

"I'll give you one guess." Oliver said with a smile as he looked towards Laurel, who was still hugging her dad, who was crying into her shoulder.

* * *

"Dad, you realize you're going to have to let me go eventually right?" Laurel asked her father.

"No I don't. Laurel, you remember how I told that I knew what I'd do if I ever lost you and it'd be ugly?" Quentin asked.

"Yeah." Laurel asked, wondering how bad her dad had gotten while she was dead.

"Well it was. I hit the bottle big time. I felt like I had no reason to stay sober." Quentin said.

"Well you seem pretty sober to me. What changed?" Laurel asked.

"You can thank Oliver and Thea for that. They helped me get my life back together. Especially Thea. She gave me the job of Deputy Mayor and she even resorted to sending me to rehab when my problem got so bad I actually thought that I was Prometheus. They saved me baby. They gave me a sense of purpose, but now I that I have you back, I finally feel like my old self again. Like this burden of guilt I've been carrying for so long I almost forgot it was there, has finally been lifted. I'm so sorry Laurel. If I had never thrown in with Darhk, he would've never tried to kill you." Quentin said.

"We both know that's not true. Darhk would've come after me anyways because I was the Black Canary and if you hadn't had thrown in with him, Team Arrow would never have been able to stop as many of his attacks as we did. So stop blaming yourself for something that wasn't your fault." Laurel said firmly.

"Have you considered how you're going to tell your mother you're alive again?" Quentin asked, causing Laurel to groan.

"No, I've actually been thinking about telling Sara first so she can give me some tips, since she already went through that." Laurel said.

"Well, as long as you stay in Star City where you belong, that's fine." Quentin said as he finally removed his arms.


	7. Chapter 7

Oliver walked over to where Samantha and William were talking and braced himself for Samantha's abuse.

"Hey Samantha." Oliver said.

"Oliver, we were just coming over to see you." Samantha said.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know you won't have to worry about this happening again. Argus is going to put you both under their protection, new names, new location, 24 hour surveillance and I promise to keep my distance from you guys." Oliver said.

"Actually Oliver, now that William knows the truth about you, I was thinking that we'd move to Star City." Samantha said.

"Wait what?" Oliver asked, thinking he'd misheard her.

"William wants to spend time with his father and since he knows his father is you now, I don't see any harm in that." Samantha said.

"Is that true William?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, I mean, the Green Arrow has been my favorite hero since he saved me from that Damien Darhk guy and now that I know that my father is both the mayor and the Green Arrow, that makes you the coolest dad in the world." William said.

"Are you sure about this?" Oliver asked Samantha.

"He needs his father in his life. Besides, I think you've earned your share of time with him." Samantha said.

Oliver smiled as he said "Thank you Samantha."

"You saved both our lives Oliver. I think it's only fair that you get to be a part of William's as his father now." Samantha said.

* * *

"So, how did that go?" Laurel asked Oliver.

"Samantha and William are moving to Star City, so I'd say pretty well." Oliver said.

"I'd be amazed if Samantha saw much of William after that. I mean, his dad being the Green Arrow, William's never going to want to leave your side." Laurel said.

"Actually, William is going to be staying Samantha most of the time, since between being the mayor and being the Green Arrow, I don't really have time to raise a kid full time, but William's going to be staying with me at least one weekend a month and then hopefully we'll be able to gradually start adding more time onto that." Oliver said.

Laurel smiled and said "Well, for what it's worth, I think you'll make an incredible father. I always thought you would."

"Except when you thought about that, you always assumed that you'd be the mother." Oliver guessed.

"I can't deny that ever since I first learned about him, I've wondered what things would've been like if William was my son to." Laurel said.

"Well, it certainly would've given me a reason not to get on that boat." Oliver said.

"But then you might not be the man you are today. You might still be that lazy, cheating, lying, selfish, sob playboy I was dating and while we'd be married, it might not be happily. You might've driven me into the arms of someone even worse than you, like your dad to did your mom." Laurel said.

"Yeah, but if he hadn't done that, I might not have a little sister that I adore." Oliver said.

"But now, I think that the island turned you into the man I always seemed to see you as, even when no one else did. I saw your light. I saw the man you really were. The hero. And now I finally realize that you were always the Green Arrow, it just took that island and every other thing that has happened since to help you become him." Laurel said.

"Are you sure that even before you died that you didn't have some sort of psychic power, because that would've come in handy." Oliver said and Laurel smiled and laughed.

"No, I just tend to see the good in people, even when they don't see it in themselves." Laurel said.

"That explains how you fell in love with me, which could not have been easy." Oliver said.

"Actually Ollie, falling in love with you is the easiest thing in the world for me. It's also I how I know much you've changed." Laurel said.

"Excuse me?" Oliver asked.

"The most significant way I can think of to prove that you're a changed man is that you got me to fall in love with you all over again." Laurel said.

"So what you said that night at the hospital before you died, about me being the love of your life, you meant that?" Oliver asked.

"Every word." Laurel said.

Oliver pulled her into a much welcomed hug and said "Laurel, you of all people know that my life has been full of darkness since I came back 5 years ago, but this year, it seems like there has been nothing but darkness without any light, until now."

"What's changed?" Laurel asked, trying not to hope.

"You once told me to a beacon of light for Star City as the Green Arrow, but Laurel, for 9 years, even when I didn't realize it, you were a beacon of light for me. And without you in my life, I almost subcame to that darkness inside of me." Oliver said.

Laurel smiled as Oliver leaned his head down and his lips met hers as they kissed.


	8. Chapter 8

After the ship had arrived at the Star City bay, Lyla was waiting for them all with a full squadron of Argus agents prepared to take Slade into their custody.

"Wow, all this just for me." Slade said.

"Well, given your reputation, better to be than sorry." Lyla said.

"Lyla, Slade saved all of our lives." Oliver said.

"I know, which is why I'm giving him a chance to work off the rest of his sentence as the commanding officer of Task Force X." Lyla said.

"The Suicide Squad?" Slade asked.

"An Argus hit squad comprised of deadly criminals with bombs implanted in them to be used to kill them if they disobey." John said.

"So, I'm basically going to become a human bomb." Slade said.

"Slade, this is the best deal I could get for you. Don't push your luck." Oliver warned.

"I just one request and that is that my son Joe can visit me if he wishes." Slade said.

"Sounds reasonable." Lyla agreed as Slade willingly held up his arms to be cuffed.

"Can we have a moment first." Slade said, referring to Oliver and himself.

Lyla looked towards Oliver, who nodded saying that it was okay.

"You have 5 minutes." Lyla said as she and the others excluding Laurel headed towards the car.

"What do you want Slade?" Oliver asked.

"To thank you for everything you've done for me. Letting me live during the siege and again on the island and now for giving me a chance to have a fresh start. It's more than I deserve." Slade said.

"I'm giving you a chance Slade, but if you screw with me again, I'll take your other eye." Oliver said.

Slade smiled and said "And I wouldn't have it any other way. Now I believe our time is up and you have another, more important conversation to have."

Oliver looked towards Laurel, who seemed to look like she was out of place now.

"Good luck out there." Oliver said he walked over to Laurel.

* * *

"You weren't thinking of skipping town were you?" Oliver asked Laurel, making her jump.

"Not sure yet." Laurel said.

"Laurel, we need you back, now more than ever. Thea has been sinking deeper and deeper into dark waters and John was willing to go to prison for a crime he didn't commit in order to atone for your death and don't even get me started on your dad. We need you here, now." Oliver said.

"Ollie, while Talia was training me, she taught me to kill and I did. Sure they were criminals, but they didn't deserve to die. I'm a monster." Laurel said, turning away from him, but Oliver just put his arms on her shoulders and made her face him.

"I happen to know a thing or two about being a monster and you are not one. Laurel, everything you did, you didn't really have any idea of who you were and once you remembered, you stopped." Oliver said.

"Still, the memories of what I did still haunt me. I can't unsee it." Laurel said brokenly.

"Remember who you're talking to. Laurel, I spent a year on a killing spree and I did it, not because I had to, but because I wanted to." Oliver said.

"What?" Laurel asked and Oliver told her about what Chase had done to him.

"You're not a monster Oliver." Laurel said.

"I'm not so sure about that Laurel. But if anyone knows what you're going through right now, it's me." Oliver said.

"How do you live with it? The guilt of everything you've done?" Laurel asked.

"I don't know. But I can tell you that not being alone helps. It's the same thing I told John about killing his brother and blaming himself for your death. I need you, the team needs you, this whole city needs you. I'm not saying you shouldn't do a penance for what you did, you probably should. But do it as the Black Arrow, if not as the Black Canary." Oliver said.

"I think my time as the Black Canary is over. When I wore that mantle, I had a light inside of me that I'm not sure still exists anymore, at least, not in the same way. Besides, it sounds like Dinah has worked too hard not to get that mantle and my mask looks good on her." Laurel said.

"Still, just stay. We need you. I need you." Oliver said.

"How could I say no to that. Especially after what happened on that boat?" Laurel said.

"I'm hoping you can't." Oliver said with a smile as they kissed again.

"Promise that that will happen more often and you've got yourself a deal." Laurel said with a small smile.

"Count on it." Oliver said with a smile as they headed to join the others.


	9. Chapter 9

When Oliver and Laurel entered the bunker, they found that everyone was already there, John, Felicity, Thea, Quentin, Curtis, Rene, Dinah, Nyssa, Malcolm and even Samantha and William.

"Oliver, I need to get going. Talia had students all over the globe aside from the ones on the island. I need to ensure that none of them get any ideas." Nyssa said.

"I understand." Oliver said, hugging her.

"Thank you again for reaching out to me. I'm glad you did. I've had a score to settle with Talia for years." Nyssa said.

"My pleasure and remember, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Oliver said.

Nyssa nodded as she headed out.

"What about you Malcolm?" Oliver asked.

"Well, considering how many people in here hate me, I think I better get lost before one of you kills me." Malcolm said.

"Good idea, and remember Malcolm, just because you've proven yourself useful in the past, doesn't mean that I won't finally put you down if you bring anymore trouble into our lives." Oliver said and Malcolm nodded as he took his leave.

"What about the rest of us?" Curtis asked.

"Well that's entirely up to you. Except for Felicity." Oliver said.

"What?" Felicity asked.

"Your services will no longer be required here, effective immediately." Oliver said, much to Felicity's shock and Laurel's pleasure.

"Oliver, what's going on? I thought we were passed the whole betraying the team thing, especially since you've done it yourself." Felicity said.

"I cannot believe you'd try and make that comparison Felicity. I betrayed the team for the League to stop Ra's and save lives, while you did it for petty, selfish reasons that nearly got us all killed. And this isn't just about you betraying the team. It's also about your blatant disregard for my authority on so many occasions, particularly when we were dealing with Black Siren and you released her, just to get a shot at Prometheus and let's not forget your track record of quitting this team for selfish, petty reasons. I've just been too blinded to realize it until now, but if that is how you are going to act than you have no business being on this team. Get out, now." Oliver said in a low, but serious tone.

Felicity wasted no time in all but running out of the bunker.

"How can you be sure that she won't expose our operations now in revenge?" John asked.

"Lyla had Felicity secretly tagged with tracking tech. If she tries to do anything that risks exposing our operations, she'll locked out of whatever tech she using. But anyways, now it's time for the rest of you to make a decision." Oliver said.

"And that decision is?" Quentin asked.

"Are you in or out. Laurel's already given me her answer." Oliver said.

"I'm in. I was given the same second chance in life that I gave Sara and it came with the same training as Oliver and metahuman powers that I can use to do good. So I'm in all the way." Laurel said.

"John?" Oliver asked.

"I told you once before Oliver, I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving the fight like I did before. I'm never making that mistake again. I'm in." John said and Oliver smiled.

"Roy?" Oliver asked.

"Well, since you have an alibi for me to let me come back to Star City, I'm all in." Roy said.

"Thea?" Oliver asked.

"Well, I realize that I left for a reason, but ever since I did I have been sinking deeper and deeper into the dark waters. Speedy wasn't just a codename for me. It was way to channel all my negativity into something productive and I miss that. I'm in." Thea said.

"We'll need to get you a new suit then, since Roy is keeping his. Now, Quentin?" Oliver asked.

"I think I'll stick with the supporting role I've been playing so far." Quentin said.

"Fair enough. Curtis?" Oliver asked.

"I'm in." Curtis said.

"Rene?" Oliver asked.

"I told you before hoss, I'll always fight the good fight as long as I trust who's leading the charge, so yeah, I'm in, working with this team, I feel like I've finally found redemption for my past actions." Rene said.

"So Dinah, what about you?" Oliver asked.

"Do you even need to ask, of course I'm in." Dinah said.

"Good. Now, I think we need to pay our friends in Central City a little visit before we go public about Laurel being alive." Oliver said.

"Why's that?" John asked.

"Because something tells me that Barry and the rest of Team Flash knew about that dark matter energy could revive the dead, so now they're going to explain why they didn't tell us about that sooner." Oliver said.


	10. Chapter 10

"What the hell happened here?" Oliver asked as he entered Star labs.

"Oliver, what brings you to Central City?" Cisco asked.

"Information. Maybe you could start with telling me what the hell happened to this place?" Oliver asked.

"Savitar happened. It's a long story, but he trashed this place and we're still putting it back together, but anyways, what brought you to Central City?" Cisco asked.

"Actually, I came to talk to Barry." Oliver said.

"Yeah, well, that's not happening." Cisco said as he walked off.

"Wait, why not?" Oliver asked, but Cisco just kept walking.

"Cisco, why the hell can't I talk to Barry?" Oliver asked.

"Because he's not here anymore." Cisco practically exploded.

"What?" Oliver asked.

"Even we won the battle against Savitar, we still lost, since in the process, we created a void in the speed force that destabilized it, causing tons of destruction throughout the city and the only to stop it was for Barry to run straight into the speed force to be trapped for all eternity. That's why he can't talk to you. Because he sacrificed himself to save us all." Cisco said.

"He's not dead." Oliver said.

"No, but he's suffering a fate far worse than death. Now what did you want to know?" Cisco asked.

"Why you never told us that the same energy that gave Barry his powers in the first place could also revive the dead." Oliver said.

"What do you mean?" Cisco asked.

"What he means is that around maybe a year ago, Oliver's most recent enemy Prometheus used that same energy to bring me back." Laurel Lance said as she joined Oliver.

"Why don't we go talk in Cortex with the rest of Team Flash." Cisco said and Oliver and Laurel both nodded.

* * *

"Wait, so you're telling me that the same dark matter energy that has created countless metahumans can actually bring people back to life?" Caitlin asked **(In this AU, she didn't leave after H.R.'s funeral)** after Oliver and Laurel filled them in.

"Yeah, we discovered that about a year ago during an experiment to restore Barry's powers after Zoom stole his speed. The resulting explosion reanimated the corpse of a metahuman we were keeping down in our morgue, Tony Woodward, but he was a zombie. And the reason we didn't tell you is the same reason we chose not to tell you about Black Siren at first." Cisco said.

"You didn't want to get our hopes up." Oliver said.

"Exactly, since we couldn't risk causing another epidemic, Barry decided to keep this off book." Cisco said.

"I guess I can understand that. Speaking of Barry, how are you guys doing with that?" Laurel asked.

"Iris is probably taking it the hardest. She and Barry were actually going to get married before this happened. And while we're working tirelessly to find a way to get him out of the speed force, it doesn't look good." Cisco said.

"So, is Central City without its guardian angel?" Laurel asked.

"No, Wally's been filling in as the Flash, but Kid Flash just doesn't seem to have the same message as the Flash did. They still think he's too green to be able to handle this on his own." Cisco said.

"Well, no offense to Wally, but I can't help but agree. Wally doesn't have the same amount of experience as Barry had and while I know that Barry was training him, but Barry has had 3 years to get the public to trust him as the hero, whereas Wally has only had his powers for half a year." Oliver pointed out.

"Well, unless you have an evil speedster for us to throw into the Speed Force to take Barry's place just lying around in your basement, Wally's going to have to be good enough." Cisco said.

"Okay, well anyways, now that we've gotten our explanation, I think we'll just head back to Star City." Laurel said.

"Oh and Laurel, it's good to see you again." Cisco said.

"You to." Laurel said.

"What, no invitation to a party. Barry said that you told him that it was a Queen Family tradition that you come back to life, you get a party." Cisco asked.

Oliver laughed and said "There will be a party, but not until after we officially announce Laurel's return. By the way, remember you guys ever need any help with Barry gone, just ask."

"We'll do." Caitlin said.


	11. Chapter 11

"So, have you made a decision on whether you want to tell Sara before or after we make the official announcement that you're still alive?" Oliver asked his girlfriend.

"Before. Otherwise Sara will just get pissed off and probably come here and chew my head off for not telling her before we make it go public." Laurel said.

"Well, she is in a time ship, maybe she already knows." Oliver said.

"Possibly, but either way, I want to tell her in person before we make it public knowledge that I'm alive." Laurel said.

Oliver nodded and said "Okay, I'll have Cisco send the Legends a message to come to Star City 2017 and we'll tell Sara."

Laurel nodded as they kissed and then continued to kiss.

"You know, we really should be more professional, considering how easily someone could walk in on us." Laurel said as they continued to kiss.

"We're in my family's mansion, which I used my mayoral power to take back, since both it and my trust fund were technically taken illegally, something tells me we'll be fine." Oliver said with a smile as they resumed kissing, since Oliver had indeed taken back his family's mansion and his money, since Isabel Rochev had technically tricked him into signing away all of that, making it illegal and thanks to Lyla, who was more than happy to help out, Oliver got his money and his house back, which was good considering the mayor couldn't live in a secret bunker that most people don't know exist.

"Good point." Laurel said with a smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck and let things progress.

* * *

"Okay, what was so important that you had call me back to the present to see?" Sara asked as she and Ray entered the bunker.

"We just thought that you'd like to meet our new teammate." Oliver said.

"You called us to 2017 for a meet and greet?" Ray asked skeptically.

"More like a family reunion." said a voice that the last time Sara had heard it was when she used the spear of destiny.

She turned to see her big sister Laurel standing by the computers, smiling at her.

"Laurel?" Sara asked, tears coming to her eyes.

"It's me, Sara Bear." Laurel said, calling Sara by the nickname that only she was allowed to call her.

Sara ran into her big sister's waiting arms and hugged her as tightly as she could.

"How is this possible? I thought Nyssa destroyed the pit." Sara asked, still not sure that this was real after dreaming about it for so many nights.

"It turns out that for once, a loved one coming back from the dead is the work of science, not magic or time travel." Oliver said.

"How so?" Ray asked as Curtis and the rest of the team entered, including Quentin who just went to join his daughters in a hug.

"The same energy that gave Barry, Stein and Jax their powers had regenerative properties that reactivated Laurel's brain and other vital organs, bringing her back to life also giving her superpowers." Curtis said.

"Wait, you have powers. What are they?" Sara asked as the Lance family hug finally broke up.

"Super strength, sonic scream and super healing." Laurel said.

"The super healing is why Laurel's body was able to regenerate from all the damage Damien Darhk did when he killed her." Oliver said.

"So, you get brought back to life and you get superpowers, I swear you're the lucky one. When I came back to life, all I got was a bloodlust and a desire to kill one of my best friends." Sara said.

"Which I have forgiven you for." Thea pointed out.

"We used a magical pit that had been used to heal hundreds of the most dangerous people in history to bring you back and I was brought back using the same type of technology that's created hundreds of metahumans, including the Flash and Firestorm." Laurel said.

"How exactly did you guys manage to create dark matter?" Ray asked.

"Well, actually, we didn't. Laurel was brought back by Prometheus in an attempt to use our past against me." Oliver said.

"Let me guess, after you were brought back, this Prometheus guy tried to guilt you into working for him?" Sara asked.

"Yep, he thought that seeing me would blindside Oliver and remind him of one his biggest regrets, which was not saving me." Laurel said.

"When in reality, he actually did me a favor." Oliver said as he put his arm around Laurel's shoulder.

"Wait, are you guys together again?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, I mean, you guys always used to say that we'll be together forever." Oliver said.

"Congrats, but, does the world know that the mayor of star city is dating a woman who's supposed to be dead?" Ray asked.

"Actually, we have an announcement all set up and ready to go, but Laurel wanted to tell Sara first in person." Oliver said.

"By the way, do you have any tips for telling mom I'm not dead?" Laurel asked her sister.

"Don't." Sara suggested and they both laughed.

"Well, as much as this reunion was touching we should probably get back to the ship." Ray said.

"Well, are you guys sure you don't want to stick around for Laurel's welcome back party?" Oliver asked.

"Wait, you're throwing her a party?" Sara asked.

"I told you Sara. You come back to life, you get a party, it's kind of a Queen family tradition." Oliver said.

"Fair point, just give us the date and we'll time jump there." Sara said.

"It'll be in around 2 weeks, after we make the announcement and have Laurel's death in absentia voided." Oliver said.

"Huh, remember how that same thing happened to you 5 years ago." Thea said.

Oliver chuckled and said "Good times. That was the first time I wasn't in court for committing a crime."

"Well, we'll see you at the party." Sara said as she gave her sister one last hug.

"Stay safe." Laurel said.

"You to." Sara said they separated.


	12. Chapter 12

"Are you sure you're ready for this? Once we open this jar, there's no closing it." Oliver asked Laurel.

"Roy's already been brought back to life and I think I've pushed off my legal resurrection long enough." Laurel said.

"Okay, then, brace yourself, because it's going to be a hellraiser." Oliver said.

"Even before I died that was my life and I'm talking before I was even the Black Canary. I'm used to that." Laurel said.

"Just making sure. Lyla's already waiting outside for us whenever you're ready to begin and Dinah is prepared to step in on the Black Canary front." Oliver said.

"Let's get this over with." Laurel said.

* * *

Oliver stood before the press in front of City Hall with Quentin, Thea and Lyla standing behind, preparing himself for the incoming reactions.

"Thank you all for coming. The last time I held a press conference to acquit and resurrect Roy Harper from being the Arrow, and now I stand here again with similar news of another coverup that I myself was only made aware of recently, in regards of the death of Assistant District Attorney Laurel Lance." Oliver said.

"Mr. Mayor, what sort of cover up could have been made regarding the death of a beloved citizen and hero of Star City like Laurel Lance? Her death was confirmed." Susan Williams said.

"Well, new evidence has been brought to life to suggest that the death of Laurel Lance was actually a coverup for her being placed in witness protection by the CIA in order to protect her from Damien Darhk. To better explain things is CIA agent Lyla Michaels who is here to set the record straight for everything." Oliver said, moving to the side for Lyla to take his place.

"Thank you Mayor Queen. Now, after Ms. Lance's father outed himself as an associate of Damien Darhk under the threats of his daughter's life, the CIA felt that it would be necessary to put Ms. Lance into witness protection until it could be assumed that she was no longer in danger. This required her faking her death and relocating to different cities every month in order to make it harder for Mr. Darhk's associates to find her. And now that we've finally confirmed that all of Hive's connections have been terminated, it is finally safe for Ms. Lance to come out of hiding. Speaking of which, Ms. Lance." Lyla said as Laurel exited City Hall, alive and well, drawing lots of commotion from everyone else.

"Would everyone please calm down. I know you all have a lot of questions, especially since Laurel Lance is believed to be the Black Canary." Oliver said as the press conference continued.

* * *

"Well, that wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be." Laurel said as she Oliver, Thea and Quentin entered Oliver's office.

"Just wait until it gets out that the mayor and the new district attorney are dating." Thea said, since Oliver had also announced that Laurel had agreed to take over Adrian Chase's responsibilities as the District Attorney of Star City, since she had been the original choice for the position before her death.

"Let's cross that bridge when we get there." Laurel said.

"Well, now that Laurel is officially no longer dead, the only things left to do are to have her death voided in the legal view and throw a party." Oliver said.

"Just promise me it won't be a huge party." Laurel said.

"Relax, I was thinking just the team, plus Rory, along with the Legends and Team Flash." Oliver said.

"That actually sounds nice, except we don't know if the Flash will actually be there." Laurel said.

"Why, what's going on with Barry?" Thea asked.

"It's complicated and not something we should discuss at City Hall." Oliver said and Thea nodded.

"Anyways, we've still got plenty of problems to deal with even without Prometheus." Quentin said.

"That's true and right now topping that list is Vigilante. With Prometheus gone, he's now our top priority and we need to stop him before he kills anymore innocent people." Oliver said.

"And let's not forget your former friends in the Bratva and any remaining students of Talia al Ghul." Thea said.

"And of course there's also the Triad, whatever's left of Tobias Church's trust and the Bertinelli's, we're going to have our hands full." Laurel said.

"We're going hunting tonight, I thought maybe it was time that Black Arrow began to make a name for herself in Star City." Oliver said.

"Can't wait. I'm going to head to bunker and change the suit on my mannequin from Black Canary to Black Arrow." Laurel said with a smile she kissed Oliver's cheek before heading out.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing down here?" Laurel asked Felicity when she entered the bunker.

"Well, I figured if you guys were going hunting for vigilantes than I could be of service." Felicity said.

"Except for the fact that Oliver made abundantly clear to everyone except you that you no longer have a a place on this team." Laurel said.

"Well, I thought that maybe since he'd calmed down from the whole Prometheus thing, he'd be willing to welcome me back with open arms." Felicity said.

"Yeah, and if I were still dead, that might be the case, but since I'm alive and able to shield Oliver's mind from whatever effect you have on it, let me make it clear. You are not a member of this team anymore. You burned that bridge when you chose Helix over your friends." Laurel said.

"Laurel, I know what I did to the team, but why are you being so cold to me about this? You weren't betrayed at the time because we thought you were dead." Felicity said.

"You want to know why I'm so pissed at you, fine, I'll tell you. It's because you have proven time and again that you cannot be trusted to remain professional in this line of work it's nearly gotten every member of this team killed. Hell if you had still been on the team instead of wallowing in self pity when Darhk was escaping from prison, he may not have been able to kill me in the first place. You're selfish and attention seeking and you have proven that you are willing to sacrifice innocent people to achieve your means. And let's not forget the fact that you had Oliver all to yourself and rather than loving him for who he is, you tried to change him and got him to push away nearly everyone else he cared about, including me and his own sister. You stopped him from killing Slade Wilson when he had the chance, you stopped him from killing Damien Darhk when he had the chance and that's why he was able to kill me, because Oliver listened to you and wasn't willing to do what was necessary to save hundreds of lives, since if he'd killed Darhk sooner, than maybe Havenrock never would've happened." Laurel said.

"Are you done?" Felicity asked.

"Yes, I'm done putting up with you. Get out and I'm telling Oliver you had the nerve to show your face in here." Laurel said


	13. Chapter 13

That night, Oliver had gathered the rest of the team, the entire team, preparing to address them.

"What's the holdup hoss? I thought we were going hunting for vigilantes tonight?" Rene asked.

"We are, but I felt there were a few things that needed to be addressed first. The first of which is between Laurel and Dinah." Oliver said.

"What's going on?" Dinah asked.

"I have something I want to give you." Laurel said, holding out a box to Dinah.

When she opened it, Dinah was shocked and surprised at what it contained.

"Laurel, are you sure about this? I mean, this is yours." Dinah said as she pulled up the Black Canary suit.

"Not anymore. I had Cisco modify the suit to your physique instead of mine and to provide a bit more protection. Besides, you're already rocking my old mask, so it only seems right that you get the rest of the suit to." Laurel said.

"But you're the Black Canary." Dinah said.

"Not anymore. From what Oliver told me, it sounds like you've more than earned that mantle. You're not taking my place on this team, you're finally embracing yours. You are the Black Canary now." Laurel said.

"Are you sure I'm ready?" Dinah asked.

"You are more than ready, Black Canary." Laurel said.

"Then who are you going to be?" Dinah asked.

Laurel pressed a button, revealing her mannequin, which now beared her Black Arrow suit, rather than the Black Canary suit.

"I'm going to continue as the Black Arrow, because that is who I am now. Being the Black Canary was taken from me and not by Damien Darhk, but by Talia al Ghul, who after I was brought back to life, took the light that I used to give me purpose to be the Black Canary from me and replaced it with darkness. And that darkness does not belong in that suit." Laurel said.

"Anyways, that is not the only change I've made." Oliver said as he hit a button to reveal a couple more changes. On the Speedy mannequin was yellow version of Thea's old suit, the Arsenal suit, which was now on display on a mannequin next to the Mr. Terrific suit and next to the Wilddog was an empty mannequin that was clearly for the Black Canary suit.

"I like the new displays, especially my new suit." Thea said.

"Well, Mom always said you looked best in yellow, so I figured we'd bring that with your new suit." Oliver said.

"While this is nice, shouldn't we be looking for Vigilante before he kills more innocent people?" Rene asked.

"For once you're right. Suit up and hit the streets. You get a hit, you do not engage that madman under any circumstances alone, we all know what he's capable. Report in and then we all converge on him at once." Oliver said, right as the computers beeped.

"What's that?" Laurel asked as Curtis checked it out.

"That would be an alert for Bratva activity in the city. Apparently they're looking to get back at Oliver for betraying them." Curtis said.

"The Bratva takes priority over Vigilante, since Anatoly knows about our operations and can expose my relationship with Bratva to the public. We can't let that happen." Oliver said.

"Let's suit up." John said as they all headed towards their displays to suit up.

* * *

"Alpha team in position." Green Arrow said as he and Black Arrow took the main entrance of Glades Memorial where the Bratva were supposedly raiding medicine and other medical equipment.

"Beta team in position." Spartan said as he and Black Canary covered the roof.

"Gamma team in position." Wilddog said as he and Mr. Terrific took the south entrance.

"Vector Team in position." Speedy said as she and Arsenal took the west entrance.

"All teams get ready to converge on my mark." Green Arrow said, right as the comms fritzed.

"What's going on?" Black Arrow asked.

"The network's been compromised." Green Arrow realized, recognizing the pattern of the interference.

"But how. The system is configured to be unhackable." Black Arrow said.

"Unless you're the one who programmed it. We need to get back to the bunker now." Green Arrow said, realizing that this whole thing was a trap designed for payback.

"I swear the next time I see that bitch, I'm gonna kill her." Black Arrow said.

"Get in line." Green Arrow said.

"What about the others?" Black Arrow asked.

"They need to stay in case there really is a Bratva heist going down, we can handle whatever it is Felicity is playing at." Green Arrow said and Black arrow nodded.

* * *

When they returned to the bunker, they found that it had been practically destroyed, that it's self destruct function had been activated.

"Felicity lured us out so she could destroy our base of operations." Oliver said, punching the wall.

"At least no one died." Laurel pointed out.

"Not the point. Without a base, we can't protect this city as efficiently or track down Felicity." Oliver said.

"We should get to Argus, see if Lyla can hook us up with a temporary base." Laurel said.

"In the meantime, we need to try and contact the rest of the team." Oliver said.

"No need. We figured out it was a trap around the same time as you." John said.

"Did anything survive?" Thea asked.

"Nope, the explosion was thorough. However, I have a way to at the very least limit Felicity's options in evading us." Oliver said as he headed towards the computers and pulled something out of the floor.

"What's that?" John asked.

"A black box. This contains all the surveillance footage from my past 3 lairs, including Felicity confessing to creating the virus that was used to attack the city 2 years ago. I may have once loved her, but just like I have for all of us, I had a contingency plan for her and that is an audio file of her confessing to an act of terrorism. Dinah, I need you to get this to the SCPD. John, I need you to talk Lyla about setting up a temporary base of operations for us until we can figure something out long term." Oliver said and they both nodded.

"What about the rest of us?" Thea asked.

"Go home and get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow." Oliver said.


	14. Chapter 14

"What's going on here?" Quentin asked Dinah as he entered the SCPD.

"Felicity blew up the bunker in revenge against Oliver for kicking her off the team, but now Oliver's retaliation is to reveal Felicity's role in the cyber terrorist attack on Star City a few years ago to make her a wanted woman." Dinah said.

"I thought she was still working with Team Arrow at the time?" Quentin asked.

"She was, but Oliver said that this drive contains a confession that even though she isn't the one who unleashed the virus, she is the one who created it and I just revealed that to the entire SCPD, making her a wanted woman." Dinah said.

"Are you sure that's a card he should be playing?" Quentin asked.

"It's too late to undo it now that the recording has already been authenticated." Dinah said.

"So now the next move is on her." Quentin said.

"Yeah, though for right now, we should focus on the party tonight, you're coming right?" Dinah asked.

"Well considering it's for my daughter, yes I'm coming." Quentin said.

"Great, what about your other daughter? Any chance I'll finally get to meet the original Canary?" Dinah asked.

"Sara said she's planning on attending." Quentin said.

"Great, which means that you'll finally have everything you've ever wanted. Both of your daughters back safe and sound." Dinah said.

"Well, I'll have them back, but considering both of their lines of work, I'm not sure I can call it safe and sound, but at least they'll both be home." Quentin said with a smile.

* * *

That night at the Queen Manor, Oliver had thrown a simple party for Laurel like he promised, only inviting people who knew the truth behind her return.

"I still have a hard time believing you're back." Sara said to Laurel as the 2 sisters hugged.

"Well, you could always stay so you could make sure I don't die again." Laurel suggested.

"Tempting, but I think we both know that without me, my crew but tear each other and the timeline apart." Sara said.

"You know we can hear you right?" Ray asked as he and the rest of the Legends approached them.

"Yep and you know it's true." Sara said.

"Never said it wasn't. Where's the booze?" Mick asked.

"Nice to see that some people never change, it's in the parlor with everyone else, I assume that you searched him for matches before you let him come here?" Laurel asked.

"As best we could, but considering it's Rory, we can't make any promises." A woman who looked a lot like Vixen said.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think we've met, but do you have any relation to Mari McCabe?" Laurel asked.

"Actually Laurel, this is Amaya Jiwe, Mari's grandmother, long story, and boyfriend, Nate Heywood, aka, Steel." Sara said as shook both of their hands.

"It's so nice to finally get to meet the woman Sara was willing to risk the timeline for." Nate said.

"Excuse me?" Laurel asked, looking at her sister like she had some explaining to do.

"After your death, your sister started her own little campaign to kill Damien Darhk early to prevent him from killing you regardless of the effects those would have on the timeline." Stein said, causing his captain to glare at him.

"Sara, while I appreciate that, you swore an oath to protect time, Ollie told me that. Promise me right now that no matter what happens, you will not try to change the timeline to save me or anyone else you care about again." Laurel said, making Sara look her in the eyes.

"I promise." Sara said

* * *

"Cisco, I'm surprised that I have not yet seen Mr. Allen here tonight, I was under the impression that he and Mr. Queen were good friends." Stein asked as Cisco and Gypsy arrived at the party.

"Actually, I'm glad you're here in the present, because I could use yours and Ray's help on getting Barry out of the speed force." Cisco said as he explained the situation to Stein.

"Have you considered possibly repurposing this speed force bazooka into a speed force sledgehammer that can just cause the Speed Force to reabsorb the prison into itself, removing the need for Barry to be inside it?" Stein asked.

"Do you think Sara would be able to spare you and Ray long enough to help us build that?' Cisco asked.

"It would certainly be worth a try." Stein agreed.

* * *

"So, I assume you got Ollie a birthday gift, since technically, it was still close enough to his birthday when he found you for it to be considered appropriate to get him one?" Sara asked Laurel.

"Well, considering what I gave him the night we first got back, yeah, you could say that." Laurel said with a smile.

"I'm glad you 2 patched things up. You both deserve to be happy and I'm sorry I tried to get in the way of that." Sara said.

"Well, to be fair, I wasn't exactly innocent. I seem to remember ratting you out to dad just to keep you out of Oliver's arms and I wound up driving him into yours by only thinking about myself and not realizing that he wasn't ready to go as far as living together." Laurel said.

"He doesn't seem to have a problem with it now." Sara said.

"He's not that same man anymore. Anyways, what about you, any guys or girls on your mind?" Laurel asked.

"Well, there was one guy that I thought might be able to make it work, but he died." Sara said.

Before Laurel could ask any questions, she saw Oliver approach her.

"What's going on?" Laurel asked.

"A Vigilante sighting at Star City National Bank." Oliver said.

"Are you sure it's legitimate?" Laurel asked.

"Security footage confirmed it." Oliver said.

"Let's go." Laurel said.

"Sara, feel like tagging along for old times sake? Ray's already on board." Oliver said.

"Sure." Sara said, eager to finally see her sister in action as the Black Arrow.


	15. Chapter 15

"Well, that could've gone better. I thought that you guys were supposed to be the most experienced team." Sara said after they all returned to the Manor after a failed mission.

"What makes you think that?" John asked.

"Because Team Arrow has existed longer than Team Flash or the Legends. You guys are the pros." Sara said.

"Yeah, back then, we had someone running point and a state of the art base of operations and right now we have neither, since Felicity destroyed the bunker and our comm network." Oliver said.

"How's the search for her going?" Sara asked.

"Well, the SCPD and the ACU are looking for her along with Argus, so, we can hope." Oliver said.

"But we do need to find a new base Oliver." John said right as Stein and Cisco walked up to them.

"Raymond, we're glad you're back, we could use your help." Stein said.

"With what?" Ray asked.

"A speed force sledgehammer." Cisco said.

"Count me in." Ray said.

"Wait, what exactly are you building?" Sara asked.

"We're not so much building it as we modifying something else into it. Basically it's a way to save Barry and we actually got pretty close to cracking it while you guys were gone, but Ray, we wouldn't mind having you add in." Cisco said.

"Cisco, where exactly in this house are you working on this project because you're paying any damages." Oliver said.

"Relax, we're doing onboard the Waverider, which is in the backyard." Cisco assured him.

"Good, now anyways, why don't we see if you can get Barry out before you all leave so he can say to Laurel and give us another reason to celebrate." Oliver said.

"I was hoping you'd say that. Let's get to work." Cisco said as Ray and Stein followed him out.

"Mind if I help out. Another set of eyes and hands could be useful." Curtis volunteered, eagerly wanting to see the Waverider and help build something to save the Flash.

* * *

Cisco, Ray, Caitlin, Julian, Jesse, Harry, Stein, Tracey and Curtis were all on board the Waverider, working on changing the Speed force bazooka into a speed force sledge hammer, everyone else kept themselves entertained by talking.

"So, Rory, any chance you're ready to come back to the team yet?" Oliver asked his former teammate.

"I wish Oliver, but I still haven't been able restore my bond with the rags and until I do, I'm a liability." Rory said.

"Ollie, why don't you try hooking Rory up with your friend John Constantine. I'm sure that if anyone could figure out how to get the rags to work again, it's him." Laurel suggested to her boyfriend.

"That's a pretty good idea and I think I just got another one regarding the location of a new base. We go back to the original one." Oliver said.

"Oliver, the foundry is nowhere near big enough for the whole team." Laurel said.

"I wasn't just talking about the foundry. Since Verdant has been permanently closed under police watch, what if I use my power as the mayor to deem it structurally unsound and then we can turn the whole place into our new base?" Oliver suggested.

"That's actually a good idea." John said as he approached them.

"What did Lyla say?" Oliver asked.

"She said we can use an Argus safehouse as our base until we get a more permanent one established and they've alerted the CIA, FBI and the NSA to the threat Felicity poses with her computer skills, especially with that supervirus, so now they're all searching for her." John said.

"Good, the sooner, we get her behind bars, the better." Oliver said, right as a scarlet blur came rushing the through the room and stole his drink.

The blur came to stop to reveal Barry Allen, though now his hair had some specs of grey in it, very much alive.

"Barry." Oliver said.

"Hey Oliver, hope you don't mind, I haven't had a drink in months." Barry said with a grin, before he noticed Laurel.

"What is she doing here?" Barry asked.

"Relax, this is our Laurel. It turns out that you never told us that we could've used the same energy that gave you your powers could be used to bring Laurel back. I mean Cisco already explained it, but still, it would've been nice to know we all could've been spared a lot of grief." Oliver said.

"Wait, you said that Dark matter energy was used to bring Laurel back to life. Where?" Barry asked.

"No idea. Why?" Laurel asked.

"Because unless it was contained, there's a good chance that somewhere there's a whole new wave of metas." Barry said.

"We didn't even think about that." Cisco said as the rest of them joined in.

"Hey, where's Wally?" Barry asked when said speedster came running in with his sister with him.

"Barry?" Iris asked.

"It's me Iris." Barry said as they hugged.

"I missed you so much." Iris said as they kissed.

"It's nice to see that we're not the only ones who got our happy ending." Laurel said to Oliver as he got himself another glass of champagne.

"Now that all the guests are here, I'd like to make a toast." Oliver said as everyone sat down and picked up their drinks.

"I originally threw this party to welcome back Laurel, but now I don't see why it can't be for Barry to. Especially since it means that 2 people in this room were given another chance at love. I remember at a time that feels like a lifetime ago, I said that while our lives maybe filled with darkness, something that I have grown to know especially in the past year, we should not forget the light and miracles it can bring, so long as we remember that they're still possible. Barry and Iris, I wish you guys a long and happy marriage. You've earned it and I want to take this opportunity to properly welcome Laurel back and I hope that we will not have to worry about losing her unless it's to old age, a very long time from now." Oliver said as he wrapped his arm around Laurel's waist and she smiled.

"I'll drink to that." Sara said.

"To Barry and Laurel." Oliver said.

"To Barry and Laurel." Everyone said as the clinked their glasses before sipping.


	16. Chapter 16

Green Arrow and Black Arrow were currently on Vigilante patrol when they heard Curtis's voice over their comms.

"Hope this isn't a bad time, but I thought you'd like to know that we've picked up chatter about the triad and some black market weapons deals going on not far from your location." Curtis said.

Green Arrow looked at his partner, who just smiled.

"Copy that, we're on it, send me the address." Green Arrow said.

"Already done." Curtis said.

"We'll call if we need backup." Black Arrow said as the communication cut out.

"You realize we're not going to call for backup right?" Green Arrow said.

"Yep." Black arrow said as they headed towards the crime scene.

* * *

When they arrived, Black Arrow felt something inside her unlock and she suddenly felt an urge to kill all of the scum who were poisoning her city and she realized that the monster that it was the true Black Arrow coming out, the monster she'd given an identity to taking over and she did her best to suppress her urges.

"You okay?" Green Arrow asked.

"Shouldn't we be moving in?" Black Arrow asked, dodging the question.

"We need to see who's running the operation first so we can shut him down." Green Arrow said when suddenly Black Arrow decided to ignore him and jumped in head first.

"I thought I was supposed to be the reckless and impulsive one." Green Arrow said as he jumped after her to find her putting arrows, real ones, not tranq arrows, into triad members' hearts, making it clear her intent was to kill.

"What are you doing?" Green Arrow asked as he fired an arrow to calm her down.

"What does it look like. I'm saving my city." Black Arrow said, right before the tranq hit her.

Before Green Arrow grabbed her, he began to take out the rest of the triad members single handedly, without killing them.

"Curtis, let the SCPD know I've left them a present here and get the med bay back at the lair ready, I had to tranq Black arrow, I'll explain later." Green Arrow said as he put his partner over his shoulder and headed out.

* * *

"Mind explaining why Laurel looks like she's been tranqued?" John asked Oliver as he set her down on the med table in their current lair.

"Let's just say I finally understand why the police were so hellbent on taking down the hood. Laurel had an episode out there, so I had to take her out of play." Oliver said.

"What do you mean had an episode?" Thea asked.

"It's like she had my kill or be killed mindset from my first year. I don't know what caused it, but the Laurel I know and love would never use killing as a first resort." Oliver said.

"Wait, she became a killer?" John asked concerned.

"Yeah, and something tells me that may have been Black Arrow's last night in the field. At least for awhile." Oliver said.

"Maybe this is a sign that Laurel's days as the Black Arrow should come to an end and she should start looking for a new alter ego." Thea said.

"Maybe. But anyways, can you guys give us a moment alone." Oliver asked as he injected Laurel with antidote and John and Thea nodded before leaving.

"What happened?" Laurel asked as she put a hand on her head.

"You went all Hood on me, so I had to tranq you before you killed everyone." Oliver said.

"What? Oh god, I thought I had finally gotten over that." Laurel said.

"What?" Oliver asked.

"After I was resurrected and Talia started training me, she created a monster inside of me by teaching me to kill. That monster is the real Black Arrow and you finally saw her tonight." Laurel said.

"You think that you can give the darkness, the monster, inside of you an identity, leaving you free to be Laurel Lance?" Oliver asked, remembering when he's once believed that same lie.

"Yeah, isn't that why you wear that hood?" Laurel asked.

"It used to be. But Laurel, the darkness is a part of you and I learned the hard way that thinking that you can give it an identity is silly and pointless, since eventually, the truth comes out. That's the only good thing that came out of Prometheus, he showed me that." Oliver said.

"Are you saying that I've become a monster?" Laurel asked.

"What I'm saying is that you've become like me. A killer born of certain circumstances." Oliver said sympathetically.

"Shouldn't you be telling me I'm not a monster?" Laurel asked.

"Laurel, you and I both know that neither of us believes that, hell, there are times that I'm not sure that I'm not still a monster." Oliver said.

"How do you get through those times?" Laurel asked.

"By thinking about how far I've come. The killer I once was, the Hood, I've evolved from him into the Arrow and now finally, I'm who I was meant to be, the Green Arrow."

"Oliver, I can't be the Black Arrow. She represents for me what the Hood represents for you." Laurel said.

"Laurel, are you saying you want to quit the team?" Oliver asked.

"No, but, I need to figure out who I am and I can't do that as the Black Arrow and I've handed off my mantle as Black Canary to Dinah. I need to figure out who I am and to do that, I'm hanging up my suit." Laurel said and Oliver nodded.

"I understand, I felt the same way after I was tortured by Chase, but I'm sure that someday you'll find a reason to put a mask on again." Oliver said.

"Thank you for understanding." Laurel said as she hugged her boyfriend.


	17. Chapter 17

"So, you just let Laurel leave?" Rene asked.

"She needs time to figure things out just like John did when he left to re-enlist, Thea did after the whole possible impeachment thing and like I did from being the Green Arrow after Chase tortured me. Laurel just needs to figure out who she is if she's not the Black Arrow." Oliver said.

"I get that, but Oliver, you can't deny that this is a setback for our team, since Laurel is basically a Mirakuru soldier, only without the unfortunate side effect of insanity." John said.

"He's right. Laurel is even stronger than I was when I had the Mirakuru in me and she heals even faster and she can control her strength better than I could." Roy said, being the only other person on the team with similar powers to Laurel.

"Yeah, it's a good thing she had so long to learn how to control her strength, otherwise she probably would've killed you the first night after we got back from Lian Yu." Thea said smartly.

"Shut Speedy. Yes I admit that Laurel's strength was useful, since Dinah already has a sonic cry, but we need to make sure that Laurel does what she thinks is best for her. And besides, we did just fine before we found out about her, even back before Thea and Roy rejoined the team, so I think we can handle things without her until she gets things figured out." Oliver insisted.

"Well, if we're done here, I gotta go." Rene said.

"Where are you going?" Oliver asked.

"Quentin and I are meeting with Curtis's lawyer friend to discuss trying to get Zoe back again." Rene said and Oliver nodded.

"Since we're on the subject of kids, Ollie, shouldn't you be getting ready for your first weekend with William?" Thea said, since Oliver had finally gotten visitation privileges with his son and now William was going to be spending the weekend with him and Laurel.

"Yeah, Laurel's actually picking him up from school, so I guess I better get back home." Oliver said, thinking to himself that maybe he should ask Laurel to get involved in the situation with Rene.

* * *

"Dad." William said as he and Laurel entered the mansion.

"Hey buddy." Oliver said, hugging his son.

"I can't wait to spend some time with you, even though mom gave me a list of things I can't do." William said.

"And she gave both me and Laurel copies of that list, so don't think you can try and pull one over on me, especially since after doing that to my own parents plenty of times, I know when someone is trying to do that to me." Oliver said.

"But dad." William said.

"William, you're not going anywhere near that life. I feel bad enough that I brought you into it at all and I'm not going to put you in anymore danger." Oliver said.

"Okay then, why don't we give you a tour of the place." Laurel said, trying to play peacemaker.

William immediately nodded, eager to see his rich mayor, superhero, father's home.

"Oh Laurel, before I forget, I was wondering if you'd be willing to meet with your dad and Rene tomorrow at City Hall." Oliver said.

"About what?" Laurel asked.

"Helping to get Rene's daughter back." Oliver said and Laurel immediately nodded.

"Now, on with the tour." Oliver said.

* * *

After showing William the mansion, he seemed particularly interested in the den, since Oliver had stocked it with some of the coolest things, like an air hockey table, a pool table, arcade games, a plasma screen with every game system known to man, they finally arrived at his room.

"This is my room?" William asked as they entered the room.

"Yeah, your mother gave me some design input." Oliver said as William put his suitcase down.

"So what exactly is the plan for the weekend?" William asked.

"Well, Laurel has some work to do at City Hall tomorrow, so I figured we could have some father son time and then on Sunday, I figured that the 3 of us could spend some time together. At least during the day." Oliver said.

"What about at night?" William asked.

"At night Laurel is in charge of you since I have to handle the other part of my life that you are forbidden to be a part of and if you try you will be grounded at your mother's till you turn 18." Oliver said.

"Fine." William said, disappointedly.

"Ollie, why don't you teach William how to play billiards, seems like a good compromise." Laurel said.

"What do you say William?" Oliver asked.

"Sure, just let me unpack." William said.


	18. Chapter 18

The next day, Laurel entered City Hall to find her father and Rene talking.

"Mind if I cut in?" Laurel asked.

"Laurel, what are you doing here?" Quentin asked.

"Oliver asked me to get involved in this case and I agreed." Laurel said.

"Laurel, you don't have to do that." Rene said.

"I know but I want to. Rene, you deserve to get your daughter back and I want to help, since what's the point of having a law degree if I don't use it to help people. I'll let the judge know that I'll be taking over the case." Laurel said.

"Laurel, thank you." Rene said.

"What are friends and teammates for. Even if I'm not technically your teammate anymore. Now, I have to go make sure that Oliver hasn't introduced his son to any bad habits. Have fun." Laurel said with a smile as she headed out.

"I'm surprised how cool Laurel is with having Oliver's son with another woman in her home." Rene said.

"Because she knows that William didn't ask for any of that and so she doesn't hold anything against him. Besides, Oliver's not that person he was when William was conceived anymore, he's basically a whole another person, so it doesn't even make sense to get mad at him anymore. Besides, they already had that conversation 2 years ago when Laurel originally found out about William." Quentin said.

"Cool and it's nice that's she's going to help me get my daughter back." Rene said.

"Take it from someone who's gone through that very thing 3 times now, there's no better feeling than knowing that you finally have your family back." Quentin said.

"I'm happy for you about that by the way. I'm glad that you finally have your daughter back, since I know how much you've blamed yourself for Laurel's death." Rene said.

"Yeah, well now I can finally really move forward from that and now that Laurel's helping you, I think you got a real chance at getting Zoe back." Quentin said.

"I hope so hoss." Rene said.

* * *

Oliver and William were playing pool in the den, with Oliver making every shot.

"How are you so good at this?" William asked.

"It's kind of like shooting arrows, lining up the shot and taking all possible variables into account, I could teach you if you want." Oliver said.

"Yeah." William said.

"Just to be clear, I mean pool, not archery." Oliver said and William deflated a bit.

"Oh, well I guess that'd be cool to." William said, causing Oliver to roll his eyes and smile as Laurel entered the room.

"What's going on here?" Laurel asked.

"I'm teaching William how to play pool." Oliver said.

"Really, I thought you guys would be checking out the Xbox." Laurel said.

"This was our compromise since he wanted me to teach him about shooting, so I chose pool shots." Oliver said.

"I never thought I'd see the day you became a responsible father." Laurel said, giving her boyfriend a hard time.

"What's that supposed to mean dad?" William asked.

"It means that I didn't necessarily make the best choices in life before I was lost at sea and Laurel here paid the price for that." Oliver said.

"But at least we worked things out in the end." Laurel said.

"Can I ask a kind of personal question?" William asked.

"Depends on the question." Laurel said.

"My mom told me that Laurel was dead, so how is she here because I'm not buying the cover story." William said.

"It's a bit more complicated than that and I'm not sure you'd understand." Oliver said.

"Why don't we try, since after all, if I'm going to be a part of the family some day, there shouldn't be any secrets." Laurel said, causing Oliver to wonder if someone had blabbed to her about his plans for tomorrow night.

"Okay well, William, can you keep a secret?" Oliver asked.

"I haven't told anyone at school that you're the Green Arrow and Aunt Thea is Speedy." William said.

Oliver smiled and Laurel said "I was dead. But then, an old enemy of your father sought to destroy him entirely by finding a way to bring me back to remind him of his greatest failure, but I refused to help him."

"How did he bring you back?" William asked.

"With the same energy that gave the Flash his powers." Oliver said.

"Wait, you know the Flash?" William asked.

"You could say that." Oliver said.

"What he means is that he actually shot arrows at the Flash." Laurel said.

"Hey, in my defense, he heals almost as fast as you do." Oliver said, since Laurel's powers allowed her to heal instantly.

"Wait you shot the Flash?" William asked.

"I was training him, but sure." Oliver said.

"You trained the Flash?" William asked.

"Well not how to run, but I did teach him how to fight." Oliver said.

"That's so cool." William said.

"I know right. Your dad was actually one of the first people to know who the Flash really is." Laurel said carelessly.

"Before you ask William, no I am not going to tell you who the Flash is. It's not my secret to tell." Oliver said.

"Anyways, I just wanted to let you both know that lunch was ready." Laurel said.


	19. Chapter 19

**Epilogue** :

It has been 10 years since Oliver was reunited with the true love of his life, Laurel Lance. Since then, many things have changed. Laurel took on a new costume and codename, Genesis, and this persona was a lot more like the Black Canary rather than Black Arrow. Oliver and Laurel got married about a year after Laurel came back, with John being Oliver's best man with Roy being his groomsmen and Sara being Laurel's maid of honor with Thea being a bridesmaid and William even served as a ring bearer. They now had a 3 year old daughter named Madison Rose Queen who looked exactly like her mother and idolized her father, though both of her parents spoiled her beyond belief, since they both loved her more than their own lives. William, who was now 22 years old and had just his law studies, he wanted to help people like his father and stepmother did, at Harvard and was actually engaged with Rene's daughter Zoe, who Laurel had helped reunite with her father and the relationship was supported by both of the party's parents, and now William and Zoe were living together in his father's old loft.

John and Lyla had worked out all of their marital issues and Lyla had actually reformed Argus to the way she originally said she would. They eventually had another daughter who they named Sara after their daughter from before Flashpoint. John Jr. was currently being trained by Oliver to take his place as the Green Arrow, since Oliver knew that he couldn't keep up being the Green Arrow forever, especially if he wanted to be around long enough to see his son have a family of his own.

Roy and Thea got married and Thea gave birth to twins, Robert Thomas Harper and Moira Laurel Harper, though shortly afterwards, Thea was paralyzed from the waist down by a vigilante attack that they still had no idea who caused it, though Oliver and Roy were still looking.

* * *

Oliver was standing out on the terrace of his Laurel's room while he waited for Laurel come in after putting Maddie to bed, since she seemed super hyper tonight, probably because he'd let her have too much chocolate cake earlier at her third birthday party was on a sugar high, but anyway, he was just thinking about how perfect his life had become.

He had a wife he loved, a son he could not be prouder of and a daughter he adored with all his heart. He was both the mayor of Star City and it's protector, the Green Arrow. 16 years ago he never would've thought this was possible, but now it is. He has everything he's ever wanted in his life.

"What are you doing out here?" Laurel asked as she entered their bedroom.

"Just thinking." Oliver said.

"About?" Laurel asked.

"How there was once a time I didn't think I'd have all this." Oliver said as he pulled her into his arms.

"I know what you mean. But we've built a wonderful life together and I wouldn't have it any other way." Laurel said.

"The only thing I might change is asking you to marry me instead of Felicity the first time around. It might've given us even more time and maybe even saved your life." Oliver said as he kissed her forehead.

"I love you Oliver Queen." Laurel said.

"I love you to Laurel Queen." Oliver said and Laurel smiled at her husband, since she loved the sound of that as they kissed.

* * *

 **AN: Sorry, but I'm out of ideas, though I hope this epilogue contains answers to your requests. I'll have a new Arrow story up as soon as I can. Peace out.**


End file.
